The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Commander [then Lieutenant] Ned William Langdon, United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Fighter Plane and Leader of a Flight in Fighting Squadron SEVENTEEN (VF-17), attached to the U.S.S. HORNET (CV-12), in action against enemy Japanese forces in Kure Bay, Japan, on 19 March 1945. Leading his flight in a daring fighter sweep on major units of the Japanese Fleet, Lieutenant Commander Langdon dived through intense enemy anti-aircraft fire and, to clear a path for his closely-following bomber fighters, kept his guns in action as he came down over his first target, a Japanese aircraft carrier. Midway in the dive, he sighted a hostile battleship throwing up particularly heavy anti-aircraft fire and skillfully shifted his fire to neutralize this threat. Subsequently, after leading a strafing run on an enemy cruiser, he assisted in strafing a large tanker which was left burning, and led an attack on an airfield in which six parked aircraft were destroyed and hangers and airfield installations severely damaged. He took part in machine-gunning and exploding a locomotive, and then led two runs on a seaplane base, destroying two four-engined patrol planes, two single-engined seaplanes and causing heavy damage to seven others. His courage and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.